Month: August 2020

Black transgender women are the most vulnerable of all – The Famuan

Black transgender women are the most vulnerable of all – The Famuan:

America — the country known as the land of the free and home of the brave — provides many opportunities for people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and more minority groups. But this country also deprives a surplus amount financially, mentally and socially. Which leads to a troubling question: Does this land provide a home of safety and justice to all, or only to those deemed as free — the majority?

Our own persona mill stones — not being good enough for ourselves | by Rachel Saunders | Aug, 2020 | Medium

Our own persona mill stones — not being good enough for ourselves | by Rachel Saunders | Aug, 2020 | Medium:

I used to hate getting asked what my proudest achievement was, because for a long time the personal answer was simply getting thus far, being alive to appreciate the moment.

Transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson will get a monument in her New Jersey hometown | CNN Travel

Transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson will get a monument in her New Jersey hometown | CNN Travel:

Marsha P. Johnson, the beloved transgender activist who was a central figure in New York City’s gay liberation movement, will get a monument in her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Court rules ‘resoundingly yes’ for transgender rights in Gavin Grimm bathroom access battle – POLITICO

Court rules ‘resoundingly yes’ for transgender rights in Gavin Grimm bathroom access battle – POLITICO:

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Gavin Grimm, the transgender man who sued his Virginia high school for barring him from using the boys restroom. The long-running legal fight has become a flashpoint in the battle over LGBTQ rights in education.

Being an LGBTQI+ ally within the community | by Rachel Saunders | Aug, 2020 | Medium

Being an LGBTQI+ ally within the community | by Rachel Saunders | Aug, 2020 | Medium:

 

There’s a moment when you first realise to yourself what your gender or sexuality is, that this is me, and, well what am I going to do about it? Straight and cis people don’t need to ‘come out’, in our society why would they? Anyone who identifies outside of those binary boundaries, who transgresses those expectations faces a voyage into the unknown, leaving behind the safe harbour of ‘normality’ into potentially choppy and treacherous waters. There are as many paths to coming out as there are people who take this voyage, and where we end up is dependent on so many factors, many of which depend of the reactions of those around us who still inhabit the cis/straight shore. Oft time, our wellbeing also depends on the reactions of those new communities we make landfall on, within whose spaces we seek to inhabit and become a part of. This is why being an LGBTQI+ ally to those within the rainbow umbrella who identify differently to you is so crucial. Yes, there is more than one way to accept someone’s identity, but there are certainly plenty of ways we can screw things up.

Trans lives, broken minds — Support networks, mental health, and frank conversations — TW

https://medium.com/@rejs71/trans-lives-broken-minds-support-networks-mental-health-and-frank-conversations-tw-8f1e662370b4

In the crucible of our lives, our mental health is very much dependant on the right chemical balance in our bodies, the right hormonal balance, and the right people to help provide insight and support at the right time. Things can and do go wrong once you step outside of the gender binary, especially if a trans person walks down a medicalised route. Medical intervention is costly, time consuming, and requires public demonstration of your blurring of the boundaries between the binary; all of which makes being able to medically transition a privilege that a significant portion of the trans community cannot afford. Added to this are those who do not wish to medically transition, whose lives are just as valid as those who take pills and go under the knife. This tapestry of identities is as unique as the people who make break out of the binary, each with their own lives and ideas of how to do things. The hard part is getting the world to see that a one size all approach does not work when gender, no matter who binary someone may see their transition, is more of a shades of grey process than absolute poles with a hinterland in between.

 

Imara Jones: Why Black Trans Women Are Essential to Our Future

Imara Jones: Why Black Trans Women Are Essential to Our Future

Trans people are not new. We have always been here. As long as there’s been recorded human history, we have always existed. But we have been written out of the human story—and when you come from a community that is without a full range of possibility models, it raises the question, in yourself as well as others, of whether or not you deserve rights or a place in society. Because everything generally in society fails Black trans women, that’s how we get to epidemic levels of violence, mass levels of unemployment and a lack of education for us.